PRINCIPAL REPORT
Upstander Education
When we talk about safety in society and in schools, we tend to focus on physical safety before thinking about psychological safety. Within schools however, there are many risks to our students’ psychological safety.
Discriminatory language, that is, language that unfairly targets, demeans or excludes individuals or groups based on characteristics like race, age, gender, sexual orientation or disability, particularly when its repeated, can have a significant detrimental effect to a student or staff members psychological safety. Discriminatory language often comes in the form of ‘jokes’ that are perceived to be harmless but can cause everlasting harm to individuals as they perpetuate harmful stereotypes.
Bullying is another significant risk to student or staff psychological safety. Bullying often includes discriminatory language and is targeted and repeated, typically focusing on individuals or groups of people.
On February 28, we had Courage to Care deliver a course for our Year 7 and Year 9 students on Upstander Education. Being an Upstander is different to being a bystander; where a bystander sees an antisocial situation but does nothing, an upstander sees an antisocial situation and intervenes, seeks support or informs someone who can intervene and/or support.
I was fortunate to be present throughout one of the sessions delivered to our Year 9 students, a Courage to Care volunteer, Ann, shared the story of her cousin Henk. Henk was kept safe in
Amsterdam during World War II by some courageous upstanders who put their lives at risk for several years.
Subsequently, myself and our Junior School Captain, Grace, attended a Courage to Care event to speak on a panel and share our experiences with their Upstander Education program, how the program has impacted us, and how we intend to build a culture of upstanding within BSC.
Grace and I were also fortunate to hear Nova Peris speak to the audience as well as having an opportunity to speak with her after the event. Nova Peris OAM was the first Indigenous Australian to win an Olympic Gold Medal and the first female Indigenous Australian woman to be elected to federal parliament.
In early March, our SRC leaders, Kat and Niamh, made me aware of issues of racism that were going unreported. Together, with the support of the broader SRC team, Kat and Niamh have devised a plan that will help to address unsafe behaviours that are going unreported.
I am urging all students, staff and parents to report all unsafe or antisocial behaviours, including instances of discriminatory language, bullying and violence. For all reported instances, the school leadership team will look to verify that what has been reported has occurred, we will issue an appropriate consequence including providing education about pro-social behaviours to the perpetrator(s) and we will provide support to any victims, if required.
My take aways from Upstander Education is multi-pronged, Upstander Education is urging students and staff in schools to:
Stand up when they see or hear bullying or discriminatory language being used, intervene if it is safe to do so and if it isn’t safe to intervene, report it
Stand for respect, acceptance and inclusivity
Stand with pride and confidence that you are supporting those who need support to make our school a safer community
Embedding a culture of upstanding will help to protect the psychological safety for all students and staff, ensuring that all everyone in the BSC community is able to thrive.
Peter Langham, Principal